Gluten Free Vegetable Buns + Amsterdam

As you can see from the photo above, we have been quite busy baking bread this weekend. These vegan and gluten free mini buns have been a family favourite for a while now. Some of you might remember seeing two photos (uno | due) on instagram at the start of the summer. These buns are perfectly tiny in size, very easy to prepare and contain no egg, butter or nuts nor any yeast or baking powder. Miracle bread, really. They don’t even need any kneading or leavening time. When baked right, they get a nice crust and a softly textured crumb without being gooey or dense. Since we always try to sneak in vegetables in every dish, we have done three different versions here: carrot & parsnip, spinach & banana and beet & date. And that is just the start, you can easily add whatever vegetables you have at home.

We are not dedicated gluten free in our family, but this recipe is great as a lighter bread to mix up with rye bread, crisp bread and whatever else that makes it into our kitchen. The psyllium seed husks are very good for your gut, containing loads of fiber and the gluten free flours are also more easily digested than regular wheat flours. The buns have a touch of sweetness and are so great on a brunch or breakfast table with a slab of butter or some avocado slices. And they’re perfect in kids lunch boxes too. Even babies can enjoy them as there are no allergens in this recipe, just leave out the salt.

A few notes about this recipe

Don’t skip the psyllium! Not only is it really good for your gut, but psyllium is also the magic glue that holds the bread together, making it soft and not crumbly at all. There are lots of gluten free recipes using xantham gum or chia seeds but we encourage you to stick with psyllium on this one. Depending on where you live, it can usually be found in larger supermarkets, health food stores or online. It is also a lot cheaper than chia seeds.

First time? If you’ve never baked or tasted gluten free bread before, don’t expect that it will taste exactly the same as when you use wheat flour. The texture is slightly different and so is the flavor. Not in a bad way, just a bit different. However, this recipe is truly one of the easiest and tastiest that we have tried.

Gooey? Sometimes the inside texture of the bun can end up a bit gooey. The most common reason for this is if you slice them open too early, you should always let the bread cool off a bit first so the inside will set properly. If they are still gooey, then either you have used too much liquid in the dough or the buns need longer baking time. If you have a baking thermometer you can stick it inside one of the buns, they should reach approx. 210°F / 100°C when they are done inside. We have experienced that the baking time can vary between 35 minutes and up to 60 minutes, depending on the oven, the size of the buns and how many sheets you are baking at the same time. If your bread ends up gooey, a last minute solution is always to put the slices in the toaster :)

Gluten Free Vegetable BunsMakes 12-14 bunsThe recipe is inspired by the gluten free buns in this book by Anette Harbech Olesen

Set the oven to 375°F / 190°C. Mix psyllium and water in a large bowl, stir to combine and leave for 15 minutes to thicken. Then beat the psyllium gel vigorously with a hand whisk for a few minutes to get as much air as possible into the gel. Add vegetables, salt and oil and whisk for another minute or until all is combined. Fold in the oat and flours. You can use your hands to work the flours into the dough. Roll the dough into a log (it might be a bit sticky) and divide into 12 equal pieces. Use the palms of your hands to form them into small buns, dip your hands in warm water to avoid the dough to stick to them.
Brush with olive oil, sprinkle some seeds on top and bake for about 45-60 minutes (depending on the size of the buns and oven), they are ready when the crust is golden and firm and the inside sounds hollow when you knock on the bread. If they have a soft crust, they need more time. Let cool before slicing them open. Enjoy with a slab of butter, nut butter or some avocado slices. Store in a bread jar or paper bag in room temperature. Or freeze, if you make larger batches.

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UPDATE: OMG, all tickets sold out in the first hour! We’re looking into adding an extra session. Send an email to promotie@gottmer.nl with the subject: “Green Kitchen waiting list” and you’ll be the first to get more information if we add an extra event. Meanwhile, you can also enter the competition on Jamie Magazine website for a chance to win 1 of their 10 tickets. Thank you for your enthusiasm!

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And while we are on the subject of brunch recipes. We are really happy to announce that we are coming to Amsterdam next month and will teach two brunch workshops at the beautiful SLA Zuidas. The first session is between 10-12 and the second session between 14-16. The events are arranged by our Dutch publisher Becht and they have set an amazing price to make sure that everyone can afford this – only 45€! We will talk about our approach to food and demonstrate six delicious new brunch recipes. There will be lots of tasting, handouts, Q&A time and information about the ingredients. We will also be selling and signing our books and take some time to chat with you. So, if you are in Amsterdam next month, we’d really love to meet you. Click here to get your tickets!

I’d love to try these buns as I have everything to make them in my pantry, excepted the psyllim husks… I know you said not to skip them, but I don’t really want to go shopping just for them, so do you think I could replace them with chia or flax? Thanks!

Hi! Do you think you would be able to organize other workshops in Amsterdam? The tickets were sold out soon after publishing this and it looks like I’m one of the many disappointed people who didn’t make it on time ;) Thanks!!

Oh wow, this is again such a very amazing recipe! I would really loooove to come to Amsterdam (as I live in Belgium), but sadly (or not so sadly) I’ll be in Thailand at that time. Hopefully I’ll meet you somewhere in the future, in the meantime I’ll be busy cooking about everything from your blog and books ;)

I have been searching for more fun and practical ways to use psyllium seeds and this is definitely it!! You guys always come to the rescue. And love those pictures, especially with the 3 varieties in a row and labeled.

One question about the oats though. If I double up on buckwheat and rice flour to replace oats will it alter the desired texture too much?

I have recently discovered your beautiful book in New Zealand. I have not made this recipe, but I substituted 1 cup of Quinoa flour for the 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats in the Quinoa and Cauliflower Pattie Recipe in Vegetarian Everyday and they worked fine – held together well and great flavour. It may be worth trying this here.

Thank you! I made two of the versions today and they turned out delicious. Instead of dates I put honey with the beets, which worked fine, and with the carrot/parsnip one I just followed the recipe completely. I did alter the heat to a few degrees lower since I had the fan turned on and two baking sheets. All in all – great recipe!

I have all the ingredients at home. Can´t wait to try them. They look so beautiful. Im a big parsnip fan. So the buns with parsnip will be the first ones I will bake. Wish you will come to Cologne one day!

Just brilliant. I love how you give different versions and the use of veggies in these too! And yay for psyllium, excited to see it used more and more instead of the gums. Excited to try out that carrot and parsnip!! Have a blast in Amsterdam <3

Just an update to anyone else trying to re-use juice pulp: I did try these buns with a lemongrass/cucumber/celery/spinach/apple juice pulp. The texture turned out great but the flavor was not excellent (though still edible). Next time I will try to use some fresh produce to flavor the buns and some juice pulp.

Ooh wow, this recipe is just genius! Those are the cutest little buns I’ve seen. Your photos are getting more and more gorgeous every day!
I LOVE that you’ve added veggies in there. I can’t wait to try making them with different flavour combos. <3

This recipe looks really amazing. I really would like to make these buns, but I have a question: Could I use more buckhweat flour instead of the rice flour? Or is rice flour in this case important to add?

What beautiful buns, you make everything look out of this world! Such a good idea to use beetroot. Big thumbs up for using psyllium husk too, definitely on board with that. Thanks for a lovely post! :)

The colors for this are stunning. One of these sounds with some salted butter sounds like a great addition to breakfast. I’m particularly curious about the beet and date one- I’m working on liking beets and these buns look like a creative and fun way to try them.

Absolutely amazing dish..especially the dressing of the recipe is just too good. Really eager to prepare the recipe especially the carrot and parsnip one, my all time favorite.Thanks a lot for this really delicious dish.

These look magnificent. I love how you sneak the veg into everything. It’s truly brilliant and you guys always pull it off! I can’t wait to try these gorgeous buns. Step 1 will be to get my hands on some psyllium husk! Thanks for the recipe :)
xx Sydney

I love the colours & the photography! I would love to try this gf vegan bun & I’m glad you mentioned that they were baby friendly…I haven’t been able to really get in the kitchen since my sweet boy was born but this might be great motivation!

These are beautiful! (Then again, when is anything you make not beautiful ? :) The kid loves anything carrot cake-like so I’ll have to try these out with him. Though beetroot and date sounds ace too, maybe I’ll just have to make all three…

I’m so impressed by this. Truly, truly impressed. I love all the detailed tips and suggestions. I love that you made three different kinds of buns. I love the colors, the photos.. Such a win. Thank you.

I just made the spinach and banana version. Didn’t have buckwheat or rice flour so I substituted with quinoa flour and coconut flour – the taste is addictive! And I love how similar they are to regular buns. Beautiful recipe!

I just made the beetroot and date buns and they are delicious. They go so well with a really good strong cheddar. Next time I would like to try this as a loaf, have you guys tried it? I think it will probably be necessary to decrease the oven temperature, and increase the time.

I tried the recipe using “fiber husk” instead of psyllium husk and it worked just fine, I just had to decrease the measurement to around 1-1/2 tbsp (around 15grams) since the fiberhusk is minced a lot finer.

Mmmmm… yummy! Those are perfect for a tea night or to take with you when traveling long distances. I’m curious about the ones with beet, I so love beet but am afraid to experiment with it. Hope they turn out great!

I just tried the banana/spinach and carrot/apple version (I had no parsnips on hand). The dough was very easy to make and the result is really yummy! I had to bake them for 70 minutes.
I Will definitely try other versions, thank you for the recipe.

These buns look amazing! I can’t wait to try them out. I don’t follow a gluten-free diet, so I don’t have those flours you use. I’m wondering if I can swap them out for all purpose and whole wheat at 1:1 ratio?

Oh they look so good! I have a question though, what do you top them with? Cos they seem quite sweet and I wonder if they only fit with things such as nutbutters or do they go in hand with things like hummus as well? Thanks for a lovely recipe!

I can not wait to try these!!!! Yum! Even though not vegan, the beet one would be so delish with some goat cheese and arugula! A couple questions: do you think you guys will ever teach a food photography workshop in North America?! Also, that background is beautiful! Is it a table or scrap piece of wood?!

These are amazing! I make the beetroot flavor often and I make substitutions when I don’t have the exact flours at home (spelt or amaranth). They always turn out delicious! I have no idea how they rise in the oven since there is no baking powder/soda but they do get bigger when they bake. Yummy! More recipes like this one please.

Thanks so much guys, this will be my go-to bread for now on! Perfect time commitment and they turned out great even with coarse buckwheat flour. I used apple and carrot, squeezing most of the the juice out before adding. Looking forward to experimenting with other veggies. You’re geniuses.